Something I've been waiting a long time for was previewed yesterday. That thing would be The Lord Inquisitor, a CGI Warhammer 40,000 fan film made by Erasmus Brosdau, a professional 3D artist who works for Crytek, a German game studio responsible for the game engine CryEngine (which The Lord Inquisitor is rendered in), as well as for games like the original Far Cry, the Crysis series, and Ryse: Son of Rome. The following video is the first eight minutes of The Lord Inquisitor, and boy are they a glorious eight minutes indeed.

A little warning first, however. Despite being a tabletop game marketed primarily to pre-teen children, Warhammer 40,000's lore is full of mature themes, and as such, so is this video. It contains partial male nudity, and depictions of violence and torture that some may find disturbing. If you think any of that will bother you, please refrain from watching.

_________________"Heralds of the coming doom, by cry of raven, we are drawn. This oath of war and vengeance, on blade of exalted iron sworn. With blood-anointed swords aloft, advance we into dread's dark shade. Punishment divine unleashed with hate, a wrathful storm of bolt and blade. Purge with plasma, fist, and shell; bring cleansing fire's righteous breath. For the Emperor, knights of Caliban! The Lion's anointed Angels of Death! No forgiveness. No retreat."

abeona wrote:Hmm... no idea what this is but it looked interesting! lol It's related to that lttle mini thing you shared, right? How neat!

Indeed it is, it's the same universe! Warhammer 40,000 (or 40k, as it's more commonly called) is set in a dystopian far future in which humanity has been fighting a constant losing war against aliens and supernatural forces for the past ten thousand years, and is ruled over by a totalitarian theocratic state known as the Imperium of Man, centered around the worship of their dying Emperor as a god. The setting is known for its (often over-the-top) incredibly dark tone (40k is actually the origin of the term "grimdark" if you've ever heard that used before) and its lack of a clear protagonist (the humans are typically portrayed as the closest thing to "protagonists", but as you can see in the video, they are not particularly nice and most definitely do not possess any kind of moral high-ground over most other factions).

_________________"Heralds of the coming doom, by cry of raven, we are drawn. This oath of war and vengeance, on blade of exalted iron sworn. With blood-anointed swords aloft, advance we into dread's dark shade. Punishment divine unleashed with hate, a wrathful storm of bolt and blade. Purge with plasma, fist, and shell; bring cleansing fire's righteous breath. For the Emperor, knights of Caliban! The Lion's anointed Angels of Death! No forgiveness. No retreat."

No, actually. 40k is a separate universe, and the franchise is actually significantly older. Halo started out in 2001, while 40k has been around since 1987. Also, while there are licensed 40k video games, 40k started out as and is still centrally focused around a tabletop strategy game, played with miniatures and dice. The setting is also significantly different: Halo is set only five hundred years in the future and concerns mainly only a small part of the galaxy, while 40k is set over thirty-eight thousand years in the future and spans the entire galaxy.

_________________"Heralds of the coming doom, by cry of raven, we are drawn. This oath of war and vengeance, on blade of exalted iron sworn. With blood-anointed swords aloft, advance we into dread's dark shade. Punishment divine unleashed with hate, a wrathful storm of bolt and blade. Purge with plasma, fist, and shell; bring cleansing fire's righteous breath. For the Emperor, knights of Caliban! The Lion's anointed Angels of Death! No forgiveness. No retreat."

Yep, I'm a fan of a whole bunch of different franchises (mostly science-fiction), from Star Wars to Firefly and Mass Effect to 40k. If you're not familiar with them all, I'm sure it can be hard to keep track of which one I'm talking about.

40k's one of my favorites though, because it's so unique. It blends science-fiction with fantasy tropes in a very unique way that makes it all feel very natural. For example, the Space Marines, the poster boys of the franchise and the guys featured in both the thumbnail for the video and my avatar, are genetically-modified supersoldiers who are forged in the image of gods, and serve as elite holy warrior monks who dedicate their lives to the service and defense of the Imperium of Mankind.

_________________"Heralds of the coming doom, by cry of raven, we are drawn. This oath of war and vengeance, on blade of exalted iron sworn. With blood-anointed swords aloft, advance we into dread's dark shade. Punishment divine unleashed with hate, a wrathful storm of bolt and blade. Purge with plasma, fist, and shell; bring cleansing fire's righteous breath. For the Emperor, knights of Caliban! The Lion's anointed Angels of Death! No forgiveness. No retreat."

I've heard of all of those! I know that people still grumble about Firefly's cancellation, and I've heard good things about Mass Effect. I just don't follow any of them. I'm more into soulful indie games and kids' cartoon shows.

@CinnamonPearl wrote:I've heard of all of those! I know that people still grumble about Firefly's cancellation, and I've heard good things about Mass Effect. I just don't follow any of them. I'm more into soulful indie games and kids' cartoon shows.

_________________"Heralds of the coming doom, by cry of raven, we are drawn. This oath of war and vengeance, on blade of exalted iron sworn. With blood-anointed swords aloft, advance we into dread's dark shade. Punishment divine unleashed with hate, a wrathful storm of bolt and blade. Purge with plasma, fist, and shell; bring cleansing fire's righteous breath. For the Emperor, knights of Caliban! The Lion's anointed Angels of Death! No forgiveness. No retreat."

_________________"Heralds of the coming doom, by cry of raven, we are drawn. This oath of war and vengeance, on blade of exalted iron sworn. With blood-anointed swords aloft, advance we into dread's dark shade. Punishment divine unleashed with hate, a wrathful storm of bolt and blade. Purge with plasma, fist, and shell; bring cleansing fire's righteous breath. For the Emperor, knights of Caliban! The Lion's anointed Angels of Death! No forgiveness. No retreat."